Although South Africa’s informal sector is small compared to other developing countries, it nevertheless provides livelihoods, employment and income for millions of workers and business owners. Almost half of informal-sector workers work in firms with employees. The annual entry of new enterprises is quite high, as is the number of informal enterprises that grow their employment. There is no shortage of entrepreneurship and desire to grow.

However, obstacles and constraints cause hardship and failure, pointing to the need for well-designed policies to enable and support the sector, rather than suppress it. The same goes for formalisation. Recognising the informal sector as an integral part of the economy, rather than ignoring it, is a crucial first step towards instituting a ‘smart’ policy approach.

The South African Informal Sector is strongly evidence- and data-driven, with substantial quantitative contributions combined with qualitative findings – suitable for an era of increased pressure for evidence-based policy-making – and utilises several disciplinary perspectives.

This South African edition of Microeconomics is essential reading for all students taking introductory economics modules on undergraduate courses throughout South Africa. It is also ideal for use with the microeconomics component of MBA courses. The text contains updated case studies, set against a South African context to illustrate how the principles of economics relate to your life. The news articles are based on news events in South Africa along with questions to help you apply your knowledge and to build your understanding. This text is designed to give you the confidence and ability to think like an economist.

Ever wonder why you have the number of friends that you do? . . . If a tax on soda would really reduce obesity? . . . What is going on with the financial problems in Greece? . . . or whether a tax rebate is better than a tax bonus? MICROECONOMICS, 11e, International Edition answers these questions and many more. Using intriguing pop culture examples, the eleventh edition is revised to include the most comprehensive coverage of the financial and economic crisis available in a principles of microeconomics text. Self-tests help determine how well you're grasping the concepts, and CourseMate for Microeconomics offers a graphing tutorial, quizzes, videos and more. It's all carefully designed to help you get the best grade possible! Building on the Video Office Hours lectures developed by the author for the tenth edition, the eleventh edition features two entirely new video types--See It Solved and GraphIt! See It Solved videos walk you through a worked problem, similar to those found at the end of each chapter, providing an ideal study tool for reference as you do homework. GraphIt! videos demonstrate key concepts in graphing in short (averaging three to five minutes) video pieces that can be played and replayed to see how the graphs are built.

Have you ever wondered how prices are determined, or why you bought a specific quantity of something? The answers to these and other questions, as well as the theories guiding decisions by consumers and producers, are explained in Microeconomics— a southern African perspective.

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to microeconomics theory, offering traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour set against a contemporary southern African background.

This second edition of Microeconomics – a southern African perspective provides a comprehensive and current introduction to microeconomic theory for the southern African context, while retaining the original ethos from the first edition. It addresses traditional theories of consumer and producer behaviour as prescribed in most introductory microeconomic modules and answers questions around how consumers and producers interact in the market, looking specifically at the choices made by producers in their endeavour to produce optimally.

Suitable for introductory semester-based courses in microeconomics, it facilitates learning through activities and self-evaluation exercises at the end of each chapter, with feedback to activities and answers to the exercises at the end of the book. The study of economics provides the tools for analysis and a framework for thinking that can aid you in making more informed decisions when faced with economic problems, making it suitable for economics students or those requiring an understanding of the economy within a specific financial field.

Now firmly established as one of the leading economics principles texts in the UK and Europe, this exciting new fourth edition of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw (Harvard University) and Mark P. Taylor (Washington University), has been fully updated. There are new sections covering microeconomic topics and concepts in more depth, whilst at the same time retaining the book's reputation for clarity, authority and real world relevance.

See Economics in Action! In a world full of volatility, uncertainty and conflicting approaches, this market leading, concise text in introductory economics looks at the key economic issues of today and helps you make sense of them. This new edition has been updated with the most recent data and coverage of economic issues such as growth, unemployment, the environment, Brexit and behavioural economics. Its classic features and clear, engaging writing style are complemented by strong theoretical basis and a wealth of pedagogical features to support learning. Expect real-life examples, case studies, questions and problems to guide your understanding. Always up-to-date! The Sloman Economics News Site Make use of the leading student-friendly blog that's updated several times a month with news and topical stories, all linked to your textbook chapters, so you can understand current affairs more deeply. New! Access additional resources on the open Companion Website The website is full of supporting material such as threshold concepts, audio animations, case studies, web appendices, glossary, flashcards and answers to selected questions from the book. This book can also be supported by a premium homework and assessment system, MyLab Economics. Learn more inside.

The economic concepts presented in Managerial Economics show students how to use quantitative methods and economic analysis alongside common sense to better understand business and address managerial problems. The text's unique integrative approach demonstrates that important business decisions are interdisciplinary and must involve collaboration between multiple business functions. Including updated real company cases and examples, the 15th edition of this text demonstrates how economic concepts and tools can be applied to real organisations and management situations.

This lively book takes Oklahoma history into the world of Wild West capitalism. It begins with a useful survey of banking from the early days of the American republic until commercial patterns coalesced in the East. It then follows the course of American expansion westward, tracing the evolution of commerce and banking in Oklahoma from their genesis to the eve of statehood in 1907.
"Banking in Oklahoma before Statehood "is not just a story of men sitting behind desks. Author Michael J. Hightower describes the riverboat trade in the Arkansas and Red River valleys and freighting on the Santa Fe Trail. Shortages of both currency and credit posed major impediments to regional commerce until storekeepers solved these problems by moving beyond barter to open ad hoc establishments known as merchant banks.
Banking went through a wild adolescence during the territorial period. The era saw robberies and insider shenanigans, rivalries between banks with territorial and national charters, speculation in land and natural resources, and land fraud in the Indian Territory. But as banking matured, the better-capitalized institutions became the nucleus of commercial culture in the Oklahoma and Indian Territories.
To tell this story, the author blends documentary historical research in both public and corporate archives with his own interviews and those that WPA field-workers conducted with old-timers during the New Deal. Bankers were never far from the action during the territorial period, and the institutions they built were both cause and effect of Oklahoma's inclusion in national networks of banking and commerce. The no-holds-barred brand of capitalism that breathed life into the Oklahoma frontier has remained alive and well since the days of the fur traders. As one knowledgable observer said in the 1980s, "You've always had the gambling spirit in Oklahoma."

Co-written by Joseph Stiglitz, winner of the Nobel Prize for his research on imperfect markets, and Carl E. Walsh, one of the leading monetary economists in the field, Principles of Microeconomics is the most modern and accurate text available.

This text rigorously blends theory with real-world applications to study the industrial organisation of the ICT sector. Each of the self-contained chapters, which can be studied in isolation, contains theoretical models that are presented in a clear and accessible way. Throughout, a series of useful boxes complements and elucidates the theories with additional empirical/anecdotal evidence. This text will be of great interest to advanced undergraduate students with a background in microeconomics and game theory, particularly those taking courses in industrial organisation, innovation economics and the economics of networks. The authors address the most important issues and are able to explore and explain complex theories and concepts in a clear, logical and coherent manner. Some of the topics covered include: * the economics of innovation * digital markets * network externalities * two-sided networks * imitation, open source and file sharing * antitrust in high-tech sectors.

From Google's chief economist, Varian's best-selling intermediate microeconomics texts are revered as some of the best in the field. And now students can work problems online with Smartwork5, Norton's online homework system, packaged at no additional charge with the Media Update Editions. In addition to online homework, the texts now include four-colour graphs and new interactive animations.

This brand new EMEA adaptation of Thomas Nechyba's popular text presents a European, Middle East and African perspective, whilst also being fully updated. This exciting new edition follows Professor Nechyba's five primary goals for any microeconomics course by presenting microeconomics as a way of looking at the world, showing students how and why the world works, how to think more clearly and develop conceptual thinking skills, providing a flexible learning style and by finally providing a roadmap for further study. Each chapter follows the A and B structure developed by Professor Nechyba, allowing students to explore an intuitive approach in Part A and then focus on how the intuitive approach can be represented mathematically approach in Part B. This edition is also available as a MindTap with additional assessments, Graph Builder and video graph presentations. It is also available with Aplia, a comprehensive online learning assessment tool with autograded randomised questions to test students' understanding.

Most macroeconomists agree that we live in the age of microfoundations. The recent worldwide financial crisis may have emboldened critics of this microfoundational orthodoxy, but it remains the dominant view that macroeconomic models must go beyond supply and demand functions to the level of individual decision-making, taking into account the general dynamic environment where agents live. Microfoundations Reconsidered seeks to reassess how the relationship of micro and macroeconomics evolved over time. The highly regarded contributors to the book argue that the standard narrative of microfoundations is likely to be unreliable. They therefore re-examine the history of the relationship of microeconomics and macroeconomics, starting from their emergence as self-consciously distinct fields within economics in the early 1930s. They seek to go beyond the conventional history that is often told and written by practicing economists. From different perspectives they challenge the association of microfoundations with Robert Lucas and rational expectations and offer both a more complete and a deeper reading of the relationship between micro and macroeconomics. Microfoundations Reconsidered is a valuable addition to the macroeconomic research literature. It is ideally suited to students, scholars, researchers, and practitioners with an interest in macro and microeconomics and the history of economics.

Long web copy This new edition of Essential Economics for Business presents the core principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics applied to the world of business while also looking at wider, topical business issues, such as business strategy, corporate social responsibility, ethics and the state of the global environment in which we live. Using up-to-date case studies the 5th edition examines everything from the impact of the financial crisis, to the effects of the Brexit vote in the UK, to popular distrust of globalisation, to the operation of specific businesses to illustrate how economic theory relates to real business issues. Looking for economics in action? Search online for the Sloman Economics News Site, a blog that's updated several times a week with current affairs and topical stories, all linked to your textbook so you can explore the background to the issues more deeply. Authors bio John Sloman was Director of the Economics Network from its foundation in 1999 until 2012, and is now Visiting Fellow at the University of Bristol where the Network is based. John is also Visiting Professor at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Elizabeth Jones is a Principal Teaching Fellow and the Dean of Students in the Economics Department at the University of Warwick. Elizabeth is also a Lecturer on economics courses for non-economists delivered to departments across the UK government.

This book presents a comprehensive account of more than 200 years of controversy on the classical theories of value and distribution. The author focuses on four, perhaps most critical, classics, viz., Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, David Ricardo's Principles of Political Economy, Karl Marx's Capital and Piero Sraffa's Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. The book highlights several significant differences in the theories of the four authors as it searches for the ?classical standpoint? that separates them from the ?moderns?. It throws fresh light on some old questions while introducing new, controversial interpretations in the literature surrounding it. It is unique in its organisation as it first presents the author's close reading of the theories of value and distribution in the four classics and then critically engages with the major alternative interpretations and criticisms of the theories discussed therein.

Bringing original insights on theoretical positions, the book challenges canonical interpretations so as to discuss and analyse the flaws and weaknesses, in addition to the already obvious strengths, of widely celebrated theories. The theories discussed here emerge from questions like: what role does demand or human psychology play in the determination of value in classical theory? Do classical economists determine the distribution of income within the context of a theory of prices and resource allocation? What role does the notion of ?equilibrium? play in classical theory and the theory of Sraffa?

It will appeal to academics and students of economic theory and philosophy, as well as to the general reader.

Economics and the Business Environment is directed at students who will be taking up managerial positions in trade and industry or in government. The economic environment of European companies is central to the book giving students a good impression of recent developments within the European economy.

The theories described enable students to:

• calculate how much competition firms within a particular business sector are exposed to
• analyze the current economic position of a particular country and make exchange rate prognoses
• gauge the effect of the economic environment on business sales and profits.

Complicated analyses and mathematical models have been avoided as much as possible. Instead, diagrams and graphs illustrate the causal relationships between economic factors, making this book an ideal primer for those needing the basics of economics for their business degree.

Since Gary Becker's seminal article in the late sixties, the economic analysis of crime has blossomed, from an interesting side field within law and economics, into a mature stand-alone sub-discipline that has been embraced by many well-respected academic economists. Wide ranging and accessible, this is the most up-to-date textbook in this area, taking current economic research and making it accessible to undergraduates and other interested readers. Without use of graphs or mathematical equations, Winter combines theory and empirical evidence with controversial examples from the news media.Topics discussed include: the death penalty, racial profiling, rational drug addiction and drug legalization, private crime deterrence, gun control, the privatization of prisons, juvenile crime, and alternative social reforms to deter crime. By requiring no previous knowledge of economics, not only is this book a perfect choice for students new to the study of economics and public policy, it will also be of interest and accessible to students of criminology, law, political science, and other disciplines interested in the study of crime topics. By emphasizing the benefits and costs of social policy to deter crime, The Economics of Crime can be enjoyed by anyone who follows current public policy debate over one of society's most contentious issues.

Transport Economics is a thoroughly revised edition of a well-established textbook which applies economic analysis to transport issues. Each chapter has been carefully reworked and includes new material dealing with the regulation of transport markets. The theoretical content is supported with considerable empirical evidence drawn from a wide range of international sources. Although aimed primarily at university students, this volume is accessible to non-specialists who have an interest in transport economics. It has no modal bias but rather examines in general terms the many aspects of the demand for, and supply of, transport together with the various methods of government intervention needed to ensure that social and environmental criteria are attained. This successful and widely adopted textbook has been meticulously revised and updated for the third edition. As the best intermediate text currently available, it will be welcomed by students, policymakers and all those concerned with the supply of transport services.

First-time economics students at correspondence colleges, technical colleges and technikons - first-time economics students at the Institute of administration and commerce (IAC), and the Institute of marketing management (IMM) - university students in student support programmes for economics and introductory economics courses at universities - students who only need a basic overview of microeconomics (for short courses, and certificate programmes, for example) - students taking service courses in faculties and departments other than economics.

A masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes "and failures "of free-market economics Since 1946, Henry Hazlitt (TM)s bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can (TM)t explain why they often fail so badly "or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize "winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, oeWhen someone preaches ~Economics in one lesson, (TM) I advise: Go back for the second lesson. In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes "and failures "of free markets. Economics in Two Lessons explains why market prices often fail to reflect the full cost of our choices to society as a whole. For example, every time we drive a car, fly in a plane, or flick a light switch, we contribute to global warming. But, in the absence of a price on carbon emissions, the costs of our actions are borne by everyone else. In such cases, government action is needed to achieve better outcomes. Two-lesson economics means giving up the dogmatism of laissez-faire as well as the reflexive assumption that any economic problem can be solved by government action, since the right answer often involves a mixture of market forces and government policy. But the payoff is huge: understanding how markets actually work "and what to do when they don (TM)t. Brilliantly accessible, Economics in Two Lessons unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.

Now fully adapted for the Europe, Middle East & Africa market, Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions delivers cutting-edge treatment of microeconomics together with an ideal level of mathematical rigour. Aimed directly at upper level undergraduate students and graduate students, the book teaches users how to work directly with theoretical tools, real-world applications, and the latest developments within the study of microeconomics. It provides clear and accurate coverage of advanced microeconomic concepts and illustrates how the theory applies to practical situations. In addition, the text's helps to build student intuition by including a new two-tier end-of-chapter problem that begins with simple numerical/mathematical exercises followed by more analytical, theoretical, and complex problems.

Following the successful PCS Auction conducted by the US Federal Communications Commission in 1994, auctions have replaced traditional ways of allocating valuable radio spectrum, a key resource for any mobile telecommunications operator. Spectrum auctions have raised billions of dollars worldwide and have become a role model for market-based approaches in the public and private sectors. The design of spectrum auctions is a central application of game theory and auction theory due to its importance in industry and the theoretical challenges it presents. Several auction formats have been developed with different properties addressing fundamental questions about efficiently selling multiple objects to a group of buyers. This comprehensive handbook features classic papers and new contributions by international experts on all aspects of spectrum auction design, including pros and cons of different auctions and lessons learned from theory, experiments, and the field, providing a valuable resource for regulators, telecommunications professionals, consultants, and researchers.